Apparatus and methods for cutting rolled rod

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and process are provided for shearing wire rod which is rolled in a rolling mill, looped and cooled in loops including a conveyor in the cooling section, a stopping means in the cooling section engaging a loop to hold subsequent loops and shearing means spaced beyond the stopping means shearing the wire rod beyond the stopped loop.

Waited States Patent Rotert et a1.

'" l 1 l l Sept. 4, 1973 APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CUTTING ROLLED ROD Inventors: Kurt Rotert; Paul Duepper, both of c/o Firma Friedrich Kooks, Freiligrathstrasse 1, Duesseldorf-Oberkassel, Germany Filed: Jan. 21, 1972 Appl. No.: 219,640

Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 21, 1971 Germany P 21 02 684.6

11.8. C1 140/2, 83/175, 83/907 Int. Cl B2611 7/00, 1321f 11/00 Field of Search 140/1, 2, 102;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,585,887 6/1971 Gerhard et al 83/907 3,490,500 l/l970 Dopper et al. 242/80 Primary Examiner-Lowell A. Larson Attorney-Buell, Blenko & Ziesenheim [5 7 ABSTRACT An apparatus and process are provided for shearing wire rod which is rolled in a rolling mill, looped and cooled in loops including a conveyor in the cooling section, a stopping means in the cooling section engaging a loop to hold subsequent loops and shearing means spaced beyond the stopping means shearing the wire rod beyond the stopped loop.

16 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures LIL PATENT EDsEP 4191s 3.756289 SHEET 2 [1F 3 APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CUTTING ROLLED ROD Since the wire rod rolled from an ingot is, as a rule,

divided into several coils, it is necessary to cut the wire rod at various points depending on the size of coil required. The wire rod is best cut while in the cooling section as the coils of wire are assembled directly at the end of the cooling section and carried off from there.

- 2 The weights of the individual coils can be determined by measuring lengths of the wire rod while it is still running straight. Thus, the wire rod can be cut automatically dependent on the length measurement. Automatic operation can be achieved by marking the points on the wire rod where it is to be cut dependently on the One practice which has been suggested is to cut the wire rod before it reaches the looping device at a stage when the wire is still passing in a straight line.

However difficulty can be expected when attempting to use shears for cutting rolled stock, which is running in a straight line, at high rolling speeds and the tendency in modern rolling mills is towards increasingly high rolling speeds.

Another practice which has been proposed is to cut the wire rod at the end of an air-cooling section where the wire rod drops in loops into a vertical catchpit to be assembled into coils. In this case, the shearing means is situated in the upper region of the catchpit and comprises a cutting wheel, which can be inserted transversely into the pit. The wheel, which takes up the entire pit section, cuts the wire rod as it swings in and holds back the loops following, until the way is clear for a new coil. With this known method, the wire rod can be cut without any trouble, even at extremely high rolling speeds, as the speed of the oncoming wire loops is substantially lower than the speed at which the wire leaves the rolling mill, but it is difficult to separate short ends of wire, as occur in the form of thickened ends which have to be cropped from the other loops, and to remove them separately.

The invention seeks-to provide apparatus and a process for cutting rolled wire in a cooling section which will work efficiently even at extremely high output speeds of the wire from the rolling mill, and moreover, will make it.possible to cut off and single out short cropped end of wire.

In accordance with the invention the wire is cut in a stage in the cooling section through which the wire is carried in loops on a conveyor.

Thus the wire can easily and inexpensively be cut, as

the speed at which the wire loops are being carried is substantially lower thanthe speed at which the rolled wire rod is coming out of the rolling mill, and furthermore the short cropped ends can easily be removed from the conveyor because it is moving at a comparatively slow speed.

' The shearing can be effected in various ways. For instance, one of the wire loops can be seized, lifted and cut by suitable shearing means. Also, the wire loops can be held fast, while the conveyor continues to run, immediately before the point where they are to be cut and the loops, pulled apart in this way, can be out following a suitable time after the loops have-been held fast.

length measurement and by sensing or detecting the marks before the shearing means by detecting means which is used to start the shearing means after a suitable time delay. The marks can be made with metal or paint sprays.

When short ends, for instance the thickened ends, have been cropped from the ends of the wire rod, the cropped ends can be removed from the cooling section either directly after or before the shearing means.

Accordingly the invention provides apparatus for shearing wire rod rolled in a rolling mill and cooled in a cooling section, comprising a stationary stopping device adapted to be located in a stage of the cooling section through which the wire rod is passed in loops on a conveyor to hold the wire loops fast while the conveyor continues to run, and shearing means, also stationary, located some distance beyond the stopping device for shearing the wire rod extending from the loops held by the stopping device. A

The stopping device may comprise at least one prong which can be extruded into the path of motion of the wire loops on the conveyor. The shearing means can be in the form of wire shears extending completely across the path of motion of the loops on the conveyor.

To determine the weights of the coils, at least one and preferably two metering rollers can be provided some distance in front of the loop device to measure the lengths of the wire rod while it is still running through in a straight line. A marking device can be disposed beyond the two metering rollers for marking the wire rod at the point where it is to be sheared and can be controlled by pulses produced by the two metering rollers.

Detecting means can be provided in front of the stopping device for producing a signal, when the marked parts of the wire rod pass through, in order to actuate the stopping device after a suitable time delay.

To remove the short cropped ends of the wire rod, extracting means can be provided immediately behind or behind and in front of the shearing means to grasp and carry off the cropped ends. Preferably, the extracting means comprises a slide which can move transversely to the conveyor and above the level of the conveyor. An electromagnet, which can be selectively energized and de-energized, can be positioned beneath the slide to hold the cropped endson the slide. In the case wherein the conveyor comprises rollers, spaced out one after another, vertically displaceable carrying arms, laterally engaging from outside between the rollers, can alternatively be provided beneath the slide, and in their lower position can lie below the level of the conveyor level so that they can engage beneath and lift up the cropped ends.

The invention is further described, by way of exampie, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of a cooling section following a rolling mill, in which section the wire is to be sheared;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cooling section shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view to a larger scale, taken along the lines III-III in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4;

FIG. 4 is a plan view, to a larger scale, showing an extracting slide of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, to a larger scale, taken along the lines V-V of FIG. 1 and FIG. 6, but showing another embodiment of the extracting slide; and

FIG. 6 is a top view of the extracting slide shown in FIG. 5.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the rolled stock (wire rod), running at great speed from a wire rolling mill (not shown in the drawings), is fed through a guide pipe 2 to a looping device 4, which spreads out the rolled stock in loops 6 onto a horizontally running, continuous conveyor belt 8. A roller conveyor 12, comprising a number of rollers 10, is connected to the conveyor belt 8 and carries the rolled stock slowly towards a vertical, cylindrical loop collector 14. The rolled stock whilst it is on the roller conveyor is gradually cooled by the air.

Since, as a rule, the wire rolled from an ingot is to be assembled into several separate coils, shears 16 is provided in the region of the roller conveyor 12. The cutting jaws of the shears 16 extend over the entire breadth of the path of motion of the wire loops 6. To prevent several wire loops being sheared at the same time during the shearing operation, the wire loops are held fast some distance before the shears 16, while the conveyor continues to run, so that the wire loops are forced apart and the wire can be cut at one point only. A stationary stopping device 18 for holding the wire loops 6 fast has two prongs 20 which can be pushed into the wire loops from underneath and hold them fast.

The actuation of the stopping device 18 is coupled with that of the shears 16 in that the movement of the stopping device delivers a pulse which, after a suitable delay, initiates a shearing operation by the shears.

The length of wire for each coil is determined by a pair of rollers 22, connected before the looping device 4, for speed-dependently measuring the length of the linearly extended rolled stock. A marking device 24 is provided downstream of the two rollers 22 and is controlled by the two rollers 22 to provide the wire with a metal or paint mark to indicate the subsequent shearing point.

A detector 26 is disposed in front of the stopping device 18 for detecting the mark. A signal is produced by the detector when the marked part of the wire passes through and actuates the stopping device 18 after a suitable time lapse whereby both prongs are pushed from underneath into the loops 6, so that, while the conveyor continues to run, the rolled stock is held fast and spreads out so that the wire can be cut by the shears 16, which are actuated automatically by the stopping device 18 after a suitable time delay.

When the shears 16 are used to crop short wire ends, for instance thickened ends, the end pieces must be separated from the coils in good time. For this purpose, slides 28 and 30, movable transversely to the conveyor 12, are disposed above the conveyor level for grasping the cut wire end pieces and carrying them away from the cooling section.

A slide 30, is provided behind the shears 16 to extract an end piece cut from the leading end of the wire. It is also possible to use the slide 30 to remove an end piece cut from the trailing end of the wire when the end piece reaches the vicinity of the slide 30 over the conveyor. However, another slide 28 can be positioned immediately upstream of the shears 16 for removing from the conveyor the end piece cut from the trailing end of the wire, immediately after it has been cut.

The slides 28, 30 which are movable transversely to the conveyor 12, can have various structures. FIGS. 3 and 4, show a slide 30a carried on rails 32 positioned above the conveyor 12 and the slide can be moved to and fro between a position directly over the conveyor 12 and a position to one side of the conveyor. To pick up the cut wire loops 6a, the slide 300 has on its underside an electromagnet 34, which can be selectively energized and de-energized so that it can pick up the wire loops 6a and let them fall again.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a slide 30b, which like the slide 30a is carried by rails 32 running transversely to the conveyor 12 but operates mechanically. To grasp the cut wire loops 6a, the slide 30b has on its underside carrying arms 36, which engage laterally from both sides from outside between the rollers 10 of the roller conveyor. If there are no wire loops to be removed from the conveyor, the carrying arms 36 are positioned below the conveyor level so there is no contact with the wire loops. When the cutter 16 has cut a short wire end piece, which is to be removed from the conveyor, the carrying arms 36 are raised above the conveying level so that the wire loops 6a to be removed can be lifted from the rollers 10 of the roller conveyor and be carried by the slide 30b to one side of the conveyor 12. To deposit the wire coils 6a which have been removed, the carrying arms 36, which lie opposite one another, are either folded down or moved apart to the side so that the wire loops are thrown out.

The sequence of operations when rolling an ingot proceeds as follows:

The two rollers 22, which measure the length, are programmed in advance, taking into account the expected wire length, the desired weights of the coils and the thickened ends to be removed, so that after a predetermined number of revolutions of the rollers 22 an appropriate pulse is applied to the marking device 24, which marks the wire at the intended cutting points with a sprayed on mark.

The marked wire is then placed on the conveyor 12 in loops by the looping device 4 and the conveyor carries the gradually cooling wire, slowly towards the loop collector 14 where the loops are assembled into a coil.

A signal is produced as soon as the first mark passes under the detector 26 and after a suitable delay is applied to the stopping device 18, which pushes both prongs 20 between the wire loops 6 and holds them fast while the conveyor continues to run, so that the wire loops which have already passed the prongs are drawn out. The stopping device 18, in its turn, gives a pulse to the shears 16, which after a suitable time lapse cut the coils 6a of the cropped end from the wire. As soon as the first cropped end has been cut off, the extracting slide 30, located downstream of the shears 16, is actuated to grasp the cropped end and carries it away from the conveyor. The subsequent coils are then carried farther along to the loop collector 14, in which they are assembled to form the first coil.

Once the length of wire corresponding to the first coil weight has passed between the two metering rollers 22, another pulse is applied to the marking device 24,

which makes another mark on the wire. When the de tector 26 detects the second mark, the stopping device 18 and-the shears 16 are actuated one after the other to separate the individual coils from each other.

The beginning of the rear end of the wire to be cropped is again marked so that the rear end of the last coil can be cropped. Immediately after the end piece has been cropped from the wire the slide 28, disposed in front of the shears 16, is actuated, to throw the cropped end piece away to one side of the conveyor.

While we have set out certain presently preferred practices and embodiments of our invention in the foregoing specification, it will be understood that this invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for shearing wire rod rolled in a rolling mill, looped in a looping device and cooled in loops in a cooling section, comprising a conveyor in said cooling section, said conveyor comprising a roller conveyor whose rollers are spaced apart one after the other, stationary stopping means adapted to be located in a stage of the cooling section through which the wire rod is passed in loops on said conveyor, said stopping means engaging at least one of said loops to hold the subsequent wire loops fast while the conveyor continues to run, said stopping means comprising at least one prong which can be extended into the path of motion of the wire loops on the conveyor to engage at least one of said loops, and shearing means, also stationary, spaced beyond the stopping means in the direction of conveyor travel for shearing the wire rod extending in the direction of conveyor travel from the loops held by the stopping means, said shearing means comprising wireshears, which extend over the entire breadth of the path of motion of the wire loops on the conveyor.

2. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 1, in which at least one metering roller is provided for engagement with the wire rod between said rolling mill and said looping device which forms the wire into loops, the roller serving to measure the length of the wire rod before the rod is formed into loops for the purpose of determing substantially where the wire rod'is to be subsequently and detector means provided for disposition before the stopping device for producing a signal when the marked parts of the wire rod pass the detector, the signal serving to actuate the stopping device after a suitable delay.

'4. Apparatus for shearing wire rod rolled in a rolling mill, looped in a looping device and cooled in loops in a cooling section, comprising a conveyor in said cooling section stationary stopping means adapted to be located in a stage of the cooling section through which the wire rod is passed in loops on said conveyor, said stopping means engagingat least one of said loops to spaced beyond the stopping means in the direction of conveyor travel for shearing the wire rod extending in the direction of conveyor travel from the loops held by the stopping means, and extracting means provided immediately behind the shearing means for the purpose of grasping and carrying away cropped ends.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which further extracting means is provided immediately in front of the shearing means for the purpose of grasping and carrying away cropped ends from the trailing ends of the wire rods.

'6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the extracting means comprises a slide, which is movable transversely to the conveyor above the level of the conveyor.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, in which an electromagnet, which can be selectively energized and deenergized, is positioned under the slide for picking up spaced apart one after the other.

hold the subsequent wire loops fast while the conveyor 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which vertically displaceable carrying arms are provided under the slide and laterally engage between the rollers from the sides in a lowered position below the'level of the conveyor for picking up the cropped ends.

10. A process for shearing wire rod while wire is passing through a cooling section beyond the rolling mill in which the wire rod is rolled, comprising the steps of running said wire rod straight out of the last rolling stand of the rolling mill, laying said wire rod in loops in the cooling section by means of a looping device spaced beyond the rolling mill, carrying said wire rod in loops on a continuous conveyor through the cooling section, shearing the'wire in the cooling section, by grasping one of the wire loops and then shearing said loop in said cooling section carrying the loops on the conveyor and assemblying the cut wire rod into coils.

11. A process as claimed in claim 10 in which the wire loops are held fast some distance before the point where they are to be'severed while the conveyor continues to run and the loops beyond those being held are thereby pulled out and are severed shortly after the loops are held fast.

12. A process as claimed in claim 10, in which the weights of the coils are determined by measuring the length of thewire rod whilst it is still running straight.

13. A process as claimed in claim 12, in which the wire rod is severed automatically dependent on the length measurement.

14. A process asclaimed in claim 13, in which the severing points are marked on the wire rod dependent on the measured length, the marks are detected before the severingmeans, and the severing operation is effected after an appropriate delay time has clasped from the detection of the mark.

15. A process as claimed in claim 14, in which the marks are made by metal or paint sprays.

16. A process as claimed in claim 10 in which short ends cropped from the wire rod are removed from the cooling section directly behind or before the severing point.

l t l WI W 

1. Apparatus for shearing wire rod rolled in a rolling mill, looped in a looping device and cooled in loops in a cooling section, comprising a conveyor in said cooling section, said conveyor comprising a roller conveyor whose rollers are spaced apart one after the other, stationary stopping means adapted to be located in a stage of the cooling section through which the wire rod is passed in loops on said conveyor, said stopping means engaging at least one of said loops to hold the subsequent wire loops fast while the conveyor continues to run, said stopping means comprising at least one prong which can be extended into the path of motion of the wire loops on the convEyor to engage at least one of said loops, and shearing means, also stationary, spaced beyond the stopping means in the direction of conveyor travel for shearing the wire rod extending in the direction of conveyor travel from the loops held by the stopping means, said shearing means comprising wire-shears, which extend over the entire breadth of the path of motion of the wire loops on the conveyor.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which at least one metering roller is provided for engagement with the wire rod between said rolling mill and said looping device which forms the wire into loops, the roller serving to measure the length of the wire rod before the rod is formed into loops for the purpose of determing substantially where the wire rod is to be subsequently sheared.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which a marking device is provided for disposition beyond the metering roller or rollers for marking the wire rod where it is subsequently to be sheared, the marking device being controlled by pulses produced by the metering roller, means producing pulses actuated by the metering roller and detector means provided for disposition before the stopping device for producing a signal when the marked parts of the wire rod pass the detector, the signal serving to actuate the stopping device after a suitable delay.
 4. Apparatus for shearing wire rod rolled in a rolling mill, looped in a looping device and cooled in loops in a cooling section, comprising a conveyor in said cooling section stationary stopping means adapted to be located in a stage of the cooling section through which the wire rod is passed in loops on said conveyor, said stopping means engaging at least one of said loops to hold the subsequent wire loops fast while the conveyor continues to run, and shearing means, also stationary, spaced beyond the stopping means in the direction of conveyor travel for shearing the wire rod extending in the direction of conveyor travel from the loops held by the stopping means, and extracting means provided immediately behind the shearing means for the purpose of grasping and carrying away cropped ends.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which further extracting means is provided immediately in front of the shearing means for the purpose of grasping and carrying away cropped ends from the trailing ends of the wire rods.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the extracting means comprises a slide, which is movable transversely to the conveyor above the level of the conveyor.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, in which an electromagnet, which can be selectively energized and deenergized, is positioned under the slide for picking up the cropped ends.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein the conveyor comprises a roller conveyor whose rollers are spaced apart one after the other.
 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which vertically displaceable carrying arms are provided under the slide and laterally engage between the rollers from the sides in a lowered position below the level of the conveyor for picking up the cropped ends.
 10. A process for shearing wire rod while wire is passing through a cooling section beyond the rolling mill in which the wire rod is rolled, comprising the steps of running said wire rod straight out of the last rolling stand of the rolling mill, laying said wire rod in loops in the cooling section by means of a looping device spaced beyond the rolling mill, carrying said wire rod in loops on a continuous conveyor through the cooling section, shearing the wire in the cooling section, by grasping one of the wire loops and then shearing said loop in said cooling section carrying the loops on the conveyor and assemblying the cut wire rod into coils.
 11. A process as claimed in claim 10 in which the wire loops are held fast some distance before the point where they are to be severed while the conveyor continues to run and the loops beyond those being held are thereby pulled out and are severed shortly after thE loops are held fast.
 12. A process as claimed in claim 10, in which the weights of the coils are determined by measuring the length of the wire rod whilst it is still running straight.
 13. A process as claimed in claim 12, in which the wire rod is severed automatically dependent on the length measurement.
 14. A process as claimed in claim 13, in which the severing points are marked on the wire rod dependent on the measured length, the marks are detected before the severing means, and the severing operation is effected after an appropriate delay time has elasped from the detection of the mark.
 15. A process as claimed in claim 14, in which the marks are made by metal or paint sprays.
 16. A process as claimed in claim 10 in which short ends cropped from the wire rod are removed from the cooling section directly behind or before the severing point. 